February 13, 2009

Pension Shortfalls Put Pressure on Strained University Budgets

By MEGAN ECKSTEIN

With the stock market in decline, college pension plans are losing money, and administrators are scrambling to cover the shortfall.

At some institutions, defined-benefit pension plans are at their lowest levels in decades. Many plans now hold less than three-quarters of the money they will need to pay retiree benefits, says Olivia S. Mitchell, a professor of insurance and risk management at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

That figure lags behind the

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